Why I Oughta...

I came across this garden inspiration photo of a wattle fence on Instagram and I immediately bookmarked it.  They don't call it a wattle fence, but rather a "River of Sticks" and the commenters call it a 'dead hedge'.  Whatever you call it, you surely find it interesting and appealing.  And, full of personality .    The original idea (not this post below) comes from A.Zen.Gardener.    View this post on Instagram A post shared by Emily Chua (@optimisticgardener) I've tried a tiny pilot wattle fence in the stumpery a few Winters ago , but it never took off.  Mostly...because I never followed-through.  But, there are some lessons to learn from observing these photos that I can apply to a 2026 wattle fence: 1.  Layers of wattle vs one layer.  See the pegs in the ground creating that "thick" portion?   2.  Curves and shapes.  The curves follow the border and some of them are 'triangle' shaped at...

Here is a look at a pair of SugarTyme Crabapple flowering trees that are (now, seemingly established) in their spot on the southside wall of our house.   These were first planted in Fall of 2021 , they've (now) had four full growing seasons in the ground ('22, '23, '24, '25) and all but ONE of the eight limbs in the four-tier pair has extended out.  The missing limb is on the tree on the left, the lower right branch.    I last  posted a photo of these trees when they were loaded full of foliage in late October 2025 .  At that time, it was showing the curls on the tips of the limbs. Curling downward.  I wrote this: Of note, late Winter pruning and support with stakes is something I should put on my list of tasks. The tips of the limbs are arching down due to the weight of the crabapples and foliage. Still...these look really good and are providing a great view against the large expanse of white Hardieboard siding. Winter pruning and support....

Planted in the Fall of 2023, a pair of (still) small Weeping Norway Spruce trees are standing in the long, narrow (and hard-to-grow) IB2DWs bed that runs between our driveway and our neighbor to the north.  They were the first successful conifers that I have grown from small trees and I attribute that Fall Planting to their success.   They've had two full growing seasons (2024 and 2025) and over those two years, they've both put on some new growth at the top (growing taller) and the limbs have gone a little bit longer (and weeping, curving or 'pendulat'ing').     The first Spring, they put out this tiny red/pink cones .  A nice treat.  And, they've also taught me something about how conifers grow.  Like decidious trees, they 'set buds'.  But, the buds are different.  They're these little brown clusters that appear at the tips of the existing limbs and branches.  They're signs of where the upcoming season's growth is going to c...

Trees and winter interest series continues with a pair of Spring Grove dwarf Ginkgo trees that are planted on either side of our back stoop.  These were the first two (of now three) dwarf Ginkgo trees in our garden and were planted in May 2023 .  They've had three full growing seasons in their spot and were replacements for some Rhododendrons that never really performed in these spots.   Over the years, I've posted about their small, green, fan-shaped foliage , how I've fed them/supplemented them with lime  and municipal biosolids  and admired their golden fall leaf drop .   The two trees are different - one having a lower main trunk and multiple branches with the other having a more traditional apical meristem.  But, they've both grown.  Quite a bit.  Here's a bare-naked post from December 2024 (13 months ago) to compare size .  Below is what they look like right now: One of my (recently posted) "Great Garden Rules is #8:...

A few days ago, I wrote about a pair of small Canadian Hemlock trees in our backyard and mentioned that a place where I could add another one of the unique trees (Conifer that grows in shade), might be the stumpery.   I first wrote about stumpery gardens in the Fall of 2023 when I came across (now) King Charles Stumpery at High Grove .  Upon learning about the idea, I immediately ran back to my pile of wood pieces and grabbed a few stumps and hauled them up to a spot closer to the house.  With those three small stumps, I created my own stumpery .    That first growing season, I planted a few ferns around the stumps.  Last year, I added a few more.   I put some Shredded Umbrella plants in the garden bed adjacent to the Stumpery , but figure that I should add some of those to this bed this year.   In January 2024, I first documented the "winter interest" in the stumpery .  I seem to have not posted any winter/snow-covered photos from 202...

Another entry into the recent [Winter Interest] category of the garden diary shows off a feature in our backyard garden:  a handsome pair of Greenspire Linden Trees that are trained into a four-tier horizontal cordon espalier.  There are eleven (11) Green Velvet Boxwoods planted the base of the two trees .   The photo below shows the current state of the dormant Linden trees and the boxwoods showing-up against the white Winter snow.  This is a vignette in our garden that is close to our house and patio and one that we can take-in during the months where we rarely venture outside in the back. A few things to note: 1.  The Lindens need a haircut.  The top-growth on the uppermost tier of the espalier has gone ham.   2.  Last Spring (March 2025), I took a photo showing this same shot but covered in a thin layer of snow .  Not sure it ever looked better.   3.  The boxwoods have grown.  They were planted as tiny 1-gal...

One of the very best things I did in our garden this year was planting an Arctic Jade Korean Maple in our backyard .  It was/is our second Korean Maple with the first one being a Northern Glow Korean Maple that I planted out front in 2024 .  I posted photos of this small tree when the foliage was green .  And when the foliage was yellow .  And when the foliage was turning red .  Here, below, is a look at the tree when the foliage is, well...gone.  The tree is dormant and has dropped all of its leaves.  Last week, when I posted this peek at some of the Hakonechloa All Golds in the snow , you could see the side-profile of this Arctic Jade.   With it being 'naked' during the Winter, it gives me a chance to observe the structure.  Now....one of my "Great Garden Rules" is #8:  Don't prune anything for a while.  That means there's no touching this tree for a couple of seasons.  But, I can already see something that I'd prune of...

All the way back in Summer of 2019, I bought and planted a number of VERY SMALL Canadian Hemlock trees from an online nursery .   Three of them were planted along the north side fence line .  Today, two of those three are still standing .  Seven years ago, these trees weren't even a foot-tall in height.   Today?  This one is probably five-feet tall.  But, sparsely branched.  And, the caliper of the trunk is probably up to almost an inch.  Below is a look at this Canadian Hemlock tucked into the 'understory garden'.   Would I plant this tree back here, close to these other trunks - if I was to do it all over?  No.  Would I plant this small of a tree - if I was to do it all over?  No. But, here we are.  Seven years later and the tree is in this spot. The growth of the tree isn't really the point of this post in my garden diary.  I was out taking some kitchen scraps to the compost bin and took a number of ...

Planted back in the Fall of 2021 , we have a (still) small Mugo Pine in the backyard northside bed about 3/4's of the way back.  It is planted pretty close to the Harry Lauder Walking Stick Tree that I posted about yesterday .  It was a #1 gallon conifer when it went in and cost just $5.00.   I posted about it one-year after planting as it was establishing itself (but not putting on any growth at that time).   Then, in Fall of 2022, I noted that the (dang!) rabbits were feasting on this small shrub .   By Fall of 2024 it had grown a little bit , but it still was small.   Today? Like the Harry Lauder Contorted Walking Stick Tree ...this one has been 'slow-growing'.  Here, below, is the Mugo Pine peeking up out of the snow: I included the idea of ' conifers should come first ' in my v1 draft of Jake's Great Garden Rules   and this Mugo Pine is an example of a conifer that I planted earlier than most.  Was it likely too ...

Planted in the Summer of 2020, this Harry Lauder Walking Stick Tree sits in the back part of the garden in a tucked-away spot, but when you see it when it is bare and dormant, it provides A LOT of winter interest.   It is described as 'contorted' and that's certainly the case with this small tree that I spotted on my way back to the compost pile this weekend.  When I snapped this photo (below), I muttered to myself:  "this tree has hardly grown.  How long has it been here?" [Sidenote:  I wrote about Contorted Trees at Disneyland Paris here that's worth checking out .  That was the inspiration for buying and planting this tree in our garden.] The answer to the second part is:  This year will mark its seventh (7th) growing season ('20, '21, '22, '23, '24, '25, '26).  That's far longer than I thought.   As for the second part;  has it grown?  Let's look.  Here, below, is what it looks like currently: Looking back at th...

While the (dang) rabbits were able to get to *some* of my Japanese Forest Grasses (when they were green), on-balance most of them are showing off a little bit of their 'winter interest'.  Are these the largest masses of grasses?  No.  But, they're SOMETHING - in terms of sizes.  I transplanted these over in 2024, so they have had two growing seasons on this border .  Here's a post showing them re-emerging for year two in April 2025 .   Here's the grasses right now, under a light blanket of snow: Here's hoping that they'll FILL OUT and get 'fat and sassy' in 2026.  

Last Spring, I posted some photos of the perennial garden plantings along the (then-recently) renovated Riverside Plaza that runs along the Chicago River's South Branch .  I pointed out the inclusion of some of my favorite plants (Autumn Moor Grass) and how the designer used them in mass plantings.   This past week, on a walk to the train I noticed something else in these raised beds:  winter interest.  Here, below is a photo showing the seedheads or plumes (of what I think is some sort of Astilbe or Goat's Beard) that is planted in mass.  There's something planted in the front (Looks like some Lady's Mantle foliage on the right) and something that is still green in the back (Looks like a fern like Autumn Fern) making this a layered bed.  But...there's certainly four-season interest, isn't there? Later on, I took another photo of another bed that was in the dark that shows the same seedheads.  These, however, were planted in a narrow bed, so they...

Planted in the Fall of 2021, we have a cluster of three Green Gem Boxwoods planted in our backyard.  They're in a transition spot in the beds:  behind what I call the "kitchen curved" bed and in front of the Stumpery.   These were planted for four-season interest and to add some evergreen structure to the bed when it was just being planted.   Green Gem Boxwoods stay small.  This post shows their details, including their 2-to-3 feet size/height .   In their fourth full year of growth in our garden (plus a half-year from Fall planting), they've put on some size, but I don't think they're done growing.   Here's what they looked like after two seasons .  Still LOTS OF SPACE between them.   Below is a look at these three evergreen shrubs.  When I planted them, I stuck some boulders/large rocks in between them .  Back then, the rocks were the feature.  Today...the rocks are almost unseen - due to foliage grow...

Yesterday was the first day of Spring.  And, we woke up to a view in our garden to a decidely-not-spring-like situation.  Everything was covered in a layer of snow and sleet.   And, it could not have been more beautiful.   The pair of Greenspire Linden espalier trees had that snow cling to every branch and REALLY HIGHLIGHTED the structure and the four horizontal cordon layers.  Even the boxwoods got in on the "winter interest" action.  Towering over those Lindens is a row of Green Giant Thujas that are planted by my neighbor on the other side of our fence.  This 'borrowed view' sure is handsome - as those evergreen trees show off their snow-covered tips: And, here below, is the view from our back stoop.  Everything is white - and the limbs are striking in their contrast.   Spring is here.  Let's roll. 

Yesterday, I posted photos of how the (dang!) rabbits had removed the bark from the ground all the way up about 18" on all eight trunks of the apple (fruit) trees that I planted in 2020 as part of a Belgian Fence espalier .  The removal of bark by rabbits during Winter is called "Girdling" and essentially kills the tree.   I said that it is time to 'play for keeps' with these rabbits and the first step took place today with the removal of - what I think - is their hiding place.  These Miscanthus grasses that are in front of the Belgian Fence. See below for the current state of these grasses: They provide a TON of 'Winter Interest' - so like all the other ornamental grasses, I've left them up.  But, that's also provided a place for the rabbits to shelter during the Winter. Now...pay no attention to the fact that we are a Certified Wildlife Habitat.  In fact....look away, please. Because I'm taking these grasses down to the ground and removing t...

A big part of writing a [garden diary] all-year-around is using the dormant season - like RIGHT NOW, deep in the coldest part of the year - to noodle on garden edits and additions.  I've done it most Winters - educating myself about plants, shrubs and trees.  Sketching out edits to beds.  Thinking about what I should/could add to the garden in various spots. With the temps so low lately, I only get out to the backyard garden to dump our kitchen scraps into the compost bins.  I scurry from the backdoor to the bins in the back of the yard.  And then scurry right back.  So, I only have brief glimpses to notice/document the garden. But, one of the spots that I have been looking at (on these walks) is along the south fence line where we have three Green Giant Thujas that are spaced about five-feet apart.   These three went in the ground in April of 2022 and were small(ish).  Looking back at the photos from when they were planted , the tips of the...

In the Summer of 2023, I planted eleven (11) small (I mean...REALLY small, 1# nursery pots that were on sale for $5 a piece) Green Velvet Boxwood shrubs in a staggered pattern at the feet of the two Greenspire Linden Trees that are currently being trained into a horizontal cordon espalier.   I wanted to add some evergreens to this bed to provide structure, formality and Winter interest.   Today, 18-months-later, those boxwoods are starting to fill-out and provide exactly what I was looking for:  winter interest.   See below for a photo showing the Green Velvet boxwoods and the pair of Linden trees in the snow: I posted a photo of these in May of 2024 when they were putting on their annual, shaggy growth .  This past Summer marked their first full year in the ground.  While still small-in-size, these Boxwoods are providing contrast against the bright-white snow.   These will, with time, get to between three-and-four-feet tall and w...

Four-season gardening has been a goal of mine for a number of years.  Or...at least...considering the impact of the four-seasons on the garden vs. thinking *just* about bloom-time and Summer in the garden.  Conifers are a big part of that Winter Interest season and while my garden LACKED them for many years, I've begun to correct that in the past few seasons.  ( I've admitted to making a mistake on conifers and NOW believe in the advice:  "Conifers should come first." ) The original IB2DWs bed (closer to the garage) is a continuous work-in-progress.  I started with some Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grasses and have added things over the years.   This section typically gets piled high with snow during the Winter; as it is a natural place to put snow that is shoveled off the driveway.  I've posted photos of this area piled high with snow before: h ere's a post from one-year-ago (January 2024) showing that the snow was piled to the top of the Weeping N...

A few days back, I posted a photo of some snow-covered Angelia Sedum groundcover that was providing a little bit of Winter Interest near our back stoop.  On my way out to dump the kitchen compost bin in the larger bins in back, I stopped to look at some other groundcover that was 'showing up' in the snow:  Spine Tingler Epimedium.   Below is a photo showing the three plants - that I put in the ground in Spring 2023 :  There, amongst the light snow and leaf litter is the dried-out, rigid and spike-edged foliage of Spine Tingler.   These have fared a bit better than the Amber Queen varieties, so perhaps a few more of these should be on my list at the Morton Arboretum Plant Sale in 2025.  

There's growth on the tips of this Hemlock tree just waiting for Spring to arrive.